Welcome to the latest edition of pitchmarks. This is your chance to pause for a few minutes, turn down the noise and immerse yourself in golf. Make yourself a decent coffee or something stronger and relax. Maybe it’ll even help your game!
This week’s theme for pitchmarks is old friends. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve golfed with people I’d not seen for far too long and played courses that I’d always meant to revisit. I’ve also been rummaging through the loft, shed and “the eBay cupboard” for appropriate tools for a retro golf day, on which more to follow in a later volume.
But through all this has been this sense of needing to remind myself that, along with the world’s fascination with the new, there is something beautiful that develops from familiarity, and we shouldn’t take these people and places for granted. For the more we hang out with old friends, the stronger those connections become.
So here is a little piece called “About Old Friends” (click wherever you see a green link, and don’t forget to come back afterwards!), about the joy of bringing together familiar faces through this medium of golf - a recent game at Abercromby’s West Byfleet. And I am toying with the idea of recording some of these pieces, so if you feel pressed for time, perhaps try the podcast link here instead.
One wonderful feature of pushing out blog posts has been the way it has brought to me some new friends, though with many of them it feels like we’ve so much in common that they might automatically become old friends. And a few of these have been kind enough to consider sharing their own gorgeous writing in this new format, so I am delighted to be able to share some guest posts in the coming weeks.
But this guest post idea needed a theme, somehow, and so I am going to call this series old friends, too, just to confuse matters. The requirement of these contributors was simple: write as much as you like, in whatever style you like, about a club (weapon not facility) that you either love or hate, or that means something special to you. To write from the heart…
I recall one old friend saying that, for all the shiny new tools in his bag, it was the old four wood that he simply couldn’t do without. He’d drag it into country pubs with him in the event of a refreshment break, for the car and the rest of the clubs were replaceable; the four wood definitely not so. That’s the sort of thing I want to hear about!
So I will begin, as it is my blog, and also because I need to sort out my pitching, and some form of public confession seems like it could be a useful trigger for whatever technical and psychiatric work that may be required. Accountability, they call it. Shame, as every golfer knows deep down, is a powerful feeling…
Old Friends #1: Grace
And if you are still here, a few other little bits and pieces that I’ve enjoyed and wanted to share, in the spirit of abundance. A mountain bike website I used to frequent with the same tragic beguilement that nowadays powers my search for great golf writing ran a weekly forum thread called “Eating, Drinking, Listening”, so I am going to adopt and butcher these themes, in the hope that you still have time to explore any of these that catch your attention.
This week I have been Reading another post (here) in the Sounder Players Journal, by Dan Davies. If you managed to get through my pitching woes above, you’ll soon work out why I loved this piece. We gravitate to those going through a similar version of hell; find empathy easier to come by when we recognise the path. Dan’s confessional piece is both amusing and comforting for someone with my lack of a short game (or long game, I hear you think).
And here is something precious I have been Listening to recently. Generously sponsored by the No Laying Up stable, esteemed golf writers Stephen Proctor and Jim Hartsell have produced “The Duffer’s Literary Companion”, a monthly foray into the realms of great golf literature. George Plimpton once said “The smaller the ball used in the sport, the better the book”, and Stephen and Jim are well placed to guide us through proving this hypothesis, starting in episode one with Horace Hutchinson and (of course) Bernard Darwin.
I hope to find time to read both hosts’ own recent books this summer holiday, and Stephen has sent me a lovely piece for the old friends series mentioned above, which I can’t wait to share. And if you can’t wait that long, you’ll find links to each below:
The Long Golden Afternoon by Stephen Proctor
When Revelation Comes by Jim Hartsell
And on that note, I will sign off! Happy golfing, all.
What a lovely message, Tim. This is definitely an area of mutual appreciation! I've been reading from afar, but I'm delighted that we seem to share some golf nuts in common. Not surprised, though - as you say, kindred spirits! Thank you!
Richard: Many thanks for the recommendation of Up & Down to your folks. I've had a number of new subscribers sign up. I appreciate the support. I really enjoy your writing. We're kindred spirits in terms of our fascination with the game at a soul level. Continued success and be well.